“Beliefs are what divide people. Doubt unites them.” ~ Peter Ustinov
In a World of Doubt
To the left of where I sit,
I see a bright red strip
flash across the night sky.
In disbelief, I rub my weary eyes.
I do not panic, or feel fear,
as my vision slowly becomes clear.
I perceive my angel’s lake of tears
has entered my atmosphere.
Awakened, I valiantly swim out,
and try to save my world of doubt.
Ivor Steven (c) October 2025
Recently, the theme of most of my poems has been nature and our treatment of the environment. Today’s Throwback Friday poem, written in October 2019, was also a reflective poem about nature.
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former. … Albert Einstein
Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty. … Albert Einstein
Blue Plastic Tripe
The sun’s filtered warmth
Opens my notebook
And a red wine
Enhances the imagination nook
This Cafe’s quietly humming
Enticing my visions into reality
As my heart beats out a rhyme
Listening to melodic rhythms
And I sing to myself, a worldly question
Do we have the character —
to repair our transgressions?
A forest symphony’s chiming,
“All my leaves are brown.”
Touching a sensitive soul, one more time
Forcing my dancing feet down to the coastline
Where I hear Mother Earth, singing the blues
And sad mermaids are playing harps in tune,
to the ancient whales, deep moaning sounds
” The ocean now covers me, in plastic tripe”
Are we hearing the lullaby of his final night?
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Until Eyes Hear Sound
Lulu Books >> Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)
Perceptions:
Amazon >> Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >> Perceptions (lulu.com)
Tullawalla:
Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books
OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com … and I can send you a PayPal account,
for the Book, plus Postage.
Ivor Steven © October 2025
“Even in the middle of nowhere, wings remember their purpose.” —A reflection on leadership, illusion, and the quiet strength of flight.
A King Without Wings (a Tanka)
In the pilot’s chair
I see warning lights out there
In the deep, dark air
Suspended in nowhere’s grip
Who knew — the King had wings, too?
Hello, dear readers and followers. I write for Coffee House Writers magazine (USA) fortnightly, and my poem “Paddling in Time” is in this week’s edition. This piece was originally inspired by a poetic response that I wrote for Ali Grimshaw’s post >>
Paddling away – Poem by Ali Grimshaw | flashlight batteries – Ali Grimshaw
“This piece explores the elusive nature of time—how it moves without direction, listens to no command, and yet shapes everything. I wrote it while reflecting on the quiet rhythm of travel and the way moments slip past like water under a paddle.”
To read the poem, please click the link below to visit my Coffee House Writers Magazine article.
>> https://coffeehousewriters.com/paddling-in-time/
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Until Eyes Hear Sound
Lulu Books >> Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)
Perceptions:
Amazon >> Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >> Perceptions (lulu.com)
Tullawalla:
Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books
OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com … and I can send you a PayPal account,
for the Book, plus Postage.
Ivor Steven © October 2025
Market Day with Frankie (a Tanka)
May I pat your dog?
“Yes, watch out! he might lick you,
then he’ll want a treat.”
He gives them that doggie look
Woof, woof, Frankie gets his way
Ivor Steven (c) October 2025
Six frames of flight—wattlebirds mid-dance, wings wide in a hush of blue. A private performance above the treetops, where nature choreographs its midday ballet.
Wattlebird Soiree (a Tanka)
What more could I say,
than be totally amazed
by the wattlebirds’
private aerial display–
nature’s midday ballet.
Ivor Steven (c) October 2025
“Many eyes go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
There is a Better Way (a Tanka)
The sun and the moon
Respectfully share the sky
All the birds I know
Fly by harmoniously
Why can’t we learn nature’s ways?
Ivor Steven (c) October 2025
Recently, the theme of most of my poems has been nature. Today’s Throwback Friday poem, written in September 2021, was also a reflective poem about nature.
“After you have exhausted what there is in business, politics, conviviality, and so on – I have found that none of these finally satisfy, or permanently wear – what remains? Nature remains.” ― Walt Whitman
Intertwined
Why are we deaf and blind?
How can we be so silently unkind?
Nature is not our kitchen to be redesigned
Mother Earth is our holy shrine
Our one and only protective rind
All we need is her love intertwined
______________________________________
Featured Image: Forest Garden, Mt Dandenong, Victoria, by Greg Brave
______________________________________
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Until Eyes Hear Sound
Lulu Books >> Until Eyes Hear Sound (lulu.com)
Perceptions:
Amazon >> Perceptions : Steven, Ivor, Knight, Derrick: Amazon.com.au: Books
Lulu Books >> Perceptions (lulu.com)
Tullawalla:
Amazon >> Tullawalla A Meeting Place Where My Empty Hands are Full of Memories and Rhymes : Steven, Ivor: Amazon.com.au: Books
OR: >> You may email me directly for a signed copy at
ivorrs20@gmail.com … and I can send you a PayPal account,
for the Book, plus Postage.
Ivor Steven © October 2025
It’s Market Day this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
* Our popular monthly markets are all undercover at Centrepoint Arcade on the third Saturday of every month.
* They feature art, unique goods from local makers, second-hand goods, plants, books, and more.
* There are also open art studios, Yesterday Vintage, Untether Gallery, HBT Collectables, and the May’d Shop.
All at, Centrepoint Arcade
132 Little Malop St, Geelong
From 11 am to 3 pm
And I’ll be there with ‘Frankie’ and my “New Bookstall Set-up”
Ivor Steven (c) October 2025
A Black Pacific Sideband Slug, or a native Banana Slug (Ariolimax columbianus) in a darker morph.
Western Toad (Anaxyrus boreas), a native species to the Pacific Northwest.
A Mudlark jumping his shadow
The Slug and the Toad (a Tanka)
The long black slug said
“I’m the largest slug worldwide.”
The brown toad replied
“That’s awesome, but can you leap
over your shadow.”
Ivor Steven (c) October 2025
Ivor.Plumber/Poet 